It was black.
All black.
The only thing he heard was the breathing of his comrades. In a spark of red, he heard the pounding of footsteps and the loud 'THUD' of another body hitting the ground. He did not know which of them it had been, but if he wasn't quick enough, he too might end up dead. His muscles tensed ,and , a split second later, the boy jumped to dodge the fatal lasers that shot out of the seemingly endless dark expanse of the training hall. Behind him he heard a gasp that was cut short with another 'THUD'. Another was gone.
The boy took a deep breath and flicked his fringe out of his grey eyes. He was panting hard. His hand, shaking from exhaustion gripped at the dirtied blue and white fabric of his uniform. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest. Fear? No. He did not possess that emotion. Nor did he possess any others. He, like all the other candidate here, had been brought up under the 'Soldier' Programme. To obey and to fight. To be as unfeeling as the robot they had destroyed during their long hours of training. And now for a group of them, specially selected by the Master, it was their chance to shine and prove that they should lead a group of elite warriors.
A chance to lead Protocol Omega.
There were five children picked as potential candidates for this role. Three down, one more to go, to decide the new leader of this important mission. This was the final stage of the test. The Master had planned 4 stages where speed, body balance, agility and stamina were pushed to the limits. As expected, all five candidates passed the first two tests. But one finally gave in during the third stage, meeting a (quite literally) crushing end.
Now, it was during the fourth and final stage that it was either all or nothing. This stage would last as long as it needed to. And uptil now, it had lasted a gruelling 31 hours. 31 hours of dodging and running from red beams that would kill you if you were hit. The second and third candidates had broken and died within seconds of each other. Leaving just the violet haired boy and one other.
There was a flash of red to his right and the sound of footsteps, followed by heavy panting.
He's breaking.
The violet haired boy thought for a moment, then dashed in his rivals direction. These lasers, he knew, would follow moment, even the slightest twitch. He shoved the startled boy onto the hard ground and threw himself out of the way just as the laser fired.
It was over.
The grey eyed boy dusted off his uniform as the dim lights of the hall buzzed to life, illuminating the circular room. He turned his attention to what appeared to be a wall. The metallic echo of footsteps came from just beyond. A moment later, a crack appeared, slowly getting bigger. Cold, bright light reaching out to touch the boys figure. In the light stood the Master, a rather pleased smile etched onto his face. The teen knelt before him respectfully.
The Master clapped his hands in a cold applause that echoed through the blood stained hall.
"Well done, just as expected of you."
The boy bowed his head, respectfully acknowledging the Masters praise. Beside him, there was a hissing as a small box rose from a panel on the floor. It swung open. Inside lay a teal armband, the captain's mark.
"I expect a lot from you, Alpha."
"Yes... master."